Method of creating text using a computer

ABSTRACT

A method of creating text using a computer having a display screen and a pointing mechanism for identifying locations on the display screen. The method involves displaying a list of commonly used words on the screen so that the user may select the words to be used in the text by successively pointing to them. The computer responds to the pointing mechanism and displays on the screen a line of text comprising the identified words in their successive order of selection.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is a new way of creating text using a pointing mechanismsuch as a light pen or touch sensitive display screen to point to wordsthat a program causes to be displayed on the screen, thereby adding themto the text.

The standard method of creating text is by typing on a keyboard. Thismethod requires considerable skill to be able to create text atreasonably high rates. It typically takes adults about 100 hours oftraining to attain a typing speed of about 40 words per minute. Youngchildren are not taught to type because they do not have the mentaland/or physical dexterity required.

As personal computers become less expensive in the next few years, wecan expect that almost anyone who needs to create text will have accessto a computer so that he can use the word processing capabilities of thecomputer to create the text. Further, since word processing offers greatadvantages over both handwriting and standard typing on paper via astandard typewriter, we can expect that using a computer will be themethod of choice for creating text. Hence a method of creating text at areasonably high rate using a computer, that requires little skill ortraining will be very advantageous.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of this invention is to provide a method of creating textusing a personal computer, which method is easy to learn but holds thepossibility of permitting both young children and adults to create textat higher rates than present methods permit.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method of creating textwhich allows a person to use a word even if he is not sure of thecorrect spelling of that word.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a method of editingusing a natural pointing method rather than typed commands or cursormovements.

These objects, as well as other objects which will become apparent fromthe discussion that follows, are achieved, according to the presentinvention, by suitably programming a computer, having both a displayscreen and a pointing mechanism for identifying locations on the displayscreen, to enable the computer to carry out a process with the followingsteps:

(a) displaying on the screen a list of language words for selection bythe computer user;

(b) identifying successive ones of the words in response to the pointingmechanism as these words are selected by the user by pointing to theirrespective locations on the screen; and

(c) displaying on the screen a line of text comprising the identifiedwords in their successive order of selection.

Thus, when a person uses the programmed computer to create text on thedisplay screen, he (or she) points to successive ones of the listedwords, which are preferably arranged alphabetically on the screen. Thecomputer then notes which words were pointed to and performs theappropriate processing to display a line or lines of text containingthese words in proper order. Advantageously, the line(s) of text can bedisplayed at either the top or the bottom of the screen, so as to leaveroom on the main part of the screen for the original "library list" ofwords.

According to a particular feature of the present invention a list ofalphanumeric characters is also displayed, so that words which are notcontained in the "library list" may be spelled out, character bycharacter, by pointing to their successive characters, in turn, in themanner described below.

Typically the first screen that is displayed (i.e. the first set ofwords and characters) by the computer will contain the most common wordsso that the person can add one of these words to the text by pointing toit, with one pointing action. If the person wants to add a word that isnot on the first screen, he can point to one or more words or charactersthat will cause the computer to display a new screen on which the wordthat he wants to add is present. Typically he would point to the firstletter of the word he wants. The computer will then display a secondscreen of words all of which start with that letter and which are insome sense the most common words that start with that letter. Hence thissecond screen is likely to contain the word that he has in mind. If itdoes, he can add the word to the text by pointing to it. He will thenhave added that word with a total of two pointing actions. If thissecond screen does not contain the word he wants, he would point (onthis second screen) to the second letter of the word he wants and thecomputer will then display a third screen of the most common words thatstart with the first letter followed by the second letter. He cancontinue spelling out the word by pointing to succeeding letters until ascreen is displayed which contains the word he wants or he has spelledout the entire word. If the word appears he can point to it and it willbe added to the text and the first screen will be displayed so that hecan choose his next word from among the most common words. If the wordis completely spelled out he can point to an end of word indicator andthe word will be added to the text and to one of the screens so that thenext time he wants to use that word he will not have to spell it outagain.

To edit the text he can point to an edit indicator and the computer willdisplay a portion of the text along with edit command words. He can thenperform the editing functions (such as "delete", "insert", etc.) bypointing to the edit command words and the text words that the editcommands should operate on.

The pointing mechanism can be a light pen, or a touch sensitive displaythat registers the position on the screen that a fingertip or otherpointing object touches, or some other way of selecting a point on thescreen. The computer can also be constructed to register several pointsthat are pointed to almost simultaneously by several fingers or otherpointing objects. Hence a person could point to the first two letters ofa word almost simultaneously with two fingers, or he could point to aletter and a position on the screen at which he expects a word to appearas a result of pointing to the letter. This method according to theinvention makes it possible for people to create text at very highrates.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from the following more particulardescription of the preferred embodiments of the invention, asillustrated in the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 of the drawing illustrates a preferred format for the displayscreen of a computer which is programmed to operate according to themethod of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an edit screen format for use with the method of thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be describedin connection with FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing. This embodimentutilizes the following computer equipment, which is availablecommercially from IBM Corp., Boca Raton, Fla.:

IBM Personal Computer with at least 64K of memory;

At least one diskette drive;

A graphics CRT display;

A light pen.

The preferred embodiment also utilizes a computer program, written inBASIC language and designed to be supported by the IBM Disk OperatingSystem (DOS). A complete listing of the instructions of this program isset forth in the attached Appendix. This program is entitled"Pointwriter"TM.

The Pointwriter TM text processing program operates to carry out 25different functions. These are:

1. Add word to text and most used words columns.

2. Add letter to partially spelled word and get new screen of words.

3. Add fully spelled word to text and most used words columns.

4. Add suffixes "s", "ed", and "ing".

5. Add other suffixes.

6. Add special characters (including numbers and punctuation).

7. View text.

8. Replace character(s).

9. Delete character(s).

10. Insert character(s).

11. Delete word(s).

12. Undo last action.

13. Insert word(s).

14. Capitalize.

15. Paragraph.

16. Save text and most used words columns.

17. Print text.

18. Align text to eliminate short lines.

19. Stop editing and return to main screen.

20. Stop edit function.

21. Use words that you have previously used.

22. Start a new document or add to an old document.

23. Use old most used words columns.

24. Modify screens (for teacher).

25. Tutorials.

1. Add word to text and most used words columns.

The Pointwriter program generates a main image on the display screen inthe format illustrated in FIG. 1. This image or "screen" is divided intothree areas:

The first three rows contain the last three lines of text;

The bottom three rows (actually the bottom five because two are blank)contain the alphabet, special characters and command words; and

The middle area consists of a left part of fifteen rows by twenty-ninecolumns and a right part of fifteen rows by ten columns. The left partcontains seventy of the most commonly used English words. The right partcontains the fifteen text words that were used most often in the text,but are not among the seventy.

To add a word that is on this screen (except for the command words) tothe text you just point to the word. All the characters to the left andright, including the character pointed to, up to the first space will beadded to the text. Then a space character will be added to the text sothat the next word added will be separated from this word by a space. Ifthe word is not one of the seventy, it may also be added to the righthand column of fifteen most often used words. More precisely, its newfrequency (after incrementing its frequency by one) will be compared tothe frequencies of the words in that column and if its frequencyoutranks one of the others' it will replace it. If there are less thanfifteen words in the column it will be added to the column. There arealso twenty-five other columns of most used words, one for each letterexept "x". These columns appear, as we shall see when we discuss thenext function-"Add letter to partially spelled word . . . ", when themiddle area of the main screen is replaced by a list of words allstarting with the letter. The word will also be added to the column offifteen most used words which begin with its first letter.

2. Add letter to partially spelled word and get new screen of words.

If a word that you want to add to the text is not on the main screen ofseventy words or in the column of fifteen most used text words youshould point to its first letter in the screen displayed keyboard on theleft side of the bottom three rows. The words in the middle area of thescreen will immediately be replaced with words that begin with thatletter. On the left (fifteen row by twenty nine character) part will bebetween ten and fifty very common words that begin with that letter. Onthe right (fifteen row by ten character) part will be up to fifteenwords that have been used most frequently in the text that begin withthat letter. If the word you want is still not on the screen you shouldpoint to its second letter. Again the words in the middle area will bereplaced with words that begin with these two letters (the firstfollowed by the second). If you point to a third or fourth letter one oftwo things will occur. If there are many words that begin with thatsequence of three or four letters then a new set of words all startingwith that sequence will appear. But if there are not many such wordsthen all the words that do not begin with that sequence will be blankedout so that it will be easier to see if your word is on the screen. Asyou continue to spell out a word the words that don't begin with theletters that you have pointed to will continue to be blanked out so thatif you fully spell the word only that word (and perhaps additional wordsthat differ from it by an added suffix) will remain. As you spell out aword the letters you point to are added to the text so that you can seehow much of it you have spelled. At any point that you notice the wordand point to it, it will be added to the text replacing the partially orfully spelled word. Then the first screen of seventy words will reappearso you can chose your next word.

3. Add fully spelled word to text and most used word columns.

If you have fully spelled a word because it was never displayed, youmust point to "end" on the next to last row to tell the program that ithas no more letters. It will then be added to the text and possibly tothe columns of fifteen most used words. Sometimes it will go into thecolumn of most used words on the first screen. Usually it will go intothe column of fifteen most used words that begin with its first letterso that when you want to use it again it will appear on the screen afteryou point to its first letter.

4. Add "s", "ed", and "ing" to the last word of text.

By pointing to "s", "ed", or "ing" on the right side of the next to lastrow, these suffixes may be added to the last word displayed.

5. Add other suffixes to the last word of text.

By first pointing to the left arrow on the bottom row to position thecursor immediately after the last text word, and then spelling thesuffix and point to "end" other suffixes may be added. The full wordincluding the suffix will be ranked by frequency of use for possibleinclusion in the most used words columns.

6. Add special characters (including numbers and punctuation).

First position the cursor if necessary by pointing (perhaps repeatedly)to the arrows on the bottom row, then if the character is on the mainscreen point to it. If it is not on the main screen you should firstpoint to "edit" on the bottom row. The edit screen will appear. Point tothe character and you will immediately be returned to the main screen.

An example of the edit screen is shown in FIG. 2. Notice that the lasttwelve lines of text are displayed along with three additional rows ofcommands and that special characters have replaced the suffixes and the"edit" command on the bottom two rows.

7. View the text.

Only the last three lines of text are displayed on the main screen. Toview the rest of the text point to "edit" to get the edit screen. Youwill initially see the last twelve lines of text. Point to TOP, BOTTOM,UP, and DOWN to scroll the text. TOP will display the first twelve linesof text and BOTTOM the last twelve lines. UP and DOWN cause a scroll ofone line. Pointing to the number n immediately after pointing to UP orDOWN will cause an additional scroll of n-1 lines.

8. Replace a character.

You may replace a character by getting to the edit screen and firstpointing to the character you want to replace. The cursor will move tothat character. Then point to the character in the last three rows thatyou want to replace it with. Alphabetic characters will go in as lowercase. To make it upper case capitalize it. After the replacement thecursor will move one character to the right so you can continuereplacing characters easily.

9. Delete a character.

You may delete a character by getting to the edit screen and firstpointing to the character and then pointing to DELETE LETTER. Thecharacters to the right will be moved left one character so you candelete additional characters by repeatedly pointing to DELETE LETTER.

10. Insert a character.

You may insert a character by getting to the edit screen and pointing tothe character before which the insertion should take place and thenpointing to INSERT LETTER. Then point to the character you want toinsert. It will go into the cursor position and the character that wasat that position and the characters to the right will move one characterto the right as will the cursor so you can easily continue insertingcharacters.

11. Delete words.

You may delete words by getting to the edit screen and pointing toDELETE WORD. Any words that you point to after that will be deleted.

12. Undo your last action.

You may undo your last action by pointing to "erase" on the bottom row.

13. Insert words.

You may insert words by getting to the edit screen and pointing toINSERT WORD. You will be asked to point to the word before which youwant to insert. After you point to that word the main screen willreappear with the top three rows containing the text before that word onrow one and the text after that word on row three and only the cursor onrow two. You can insert as many words as you want just as you would addwords to the end of the text. When you are finished inserting, point tothe end. The text is aligned and then the last three lines of text willappear and you can continue.

14. Capitalize a character, by pointing to "Cap" and then the character.On the main screen you must point to "Cap" before each character, but onthe edit screen you can point to "Cap" once and then a succession ofcharacters.

15. Start a new paragraph, by pointing to "Par". On the main screen thiswill put the cursor at the beginning of the next text line indented onecharacter. On the edit screen you will be asked which word should starta new paragraph and when you point to a word a new paragraph will becreated and the text will be realigned accordingly.

16. Save your document on disk, by pointing to SAVE on the edit screen.You will be asked to spell a title.

You should point to "end" after spelling a title. The columns of mostused words will also be saved under this title.

17. Print your document on the printer, by pointing to PRINT on the editscreen.

18. Eliminate short lines caused by deletions, by pointing to ALIGN onthe edit screen.

19. Stop editing and return to the main screen, by pointing to RETURN onthe edit screen.

20. Stop edit functions, by pointing to "end" on the edit screen. Insome cases you can point to another edit command to automatically stopthe previous edit function, but in the case of DELETE WORD you mustpoint to "end" before attempting to position the cursor for another editfunction since pointing to a text word while in DELETE WORD mode willdelete the word!

21. Use words that you have previously used, by pointing to them in thetext or the columns of most used words. If the word you want to use isin the last three lines of text it will be in the main screen text areaand you can add it to the text by pointing to it. If it is not in thelast three lines you can go to the edit screen and point to ADD WORDS.Then when you point to text words they will be added to the text insteadof the cursor being positioned at the word.

22. Start a new document or add to an old one, by pointing to NEW DOC orto one of the titles that is displayed when you start the Pointwriterprogram. The initial Pointwriter program screen contains instructionsand the command START. When you point to START the titles of previouslysaved documents will be displayed.

23. Use old most used words columns.

After you point to a title you will be asked if you want to use the mostused words columns associated with that document or start out fresh. Ifyou start a new document you will be asked if you want to use the mostused words columns associated with one of your stored documents.

24. Modify word screens.

The teacher can modify any of the word screens (of fifteen rows bytwenty nine characters) by adding and/or deleting words. The new screencan then be saved in place of the supplied screen.

25. Tutorials

There are two tutorials. One presents a story and asks a child torecreate it. As the child successfully recreates the words they arehighlighted so the child can see which word to work on next. The otherpresents a story and recreates it itself showing the child the properpointing actions by highlighting the words, letters, and command wordsin the proper sequence.

There has thus been shown and described a novel method of creating textwhich fulfills all the objects and advantages sought therefor. Manychanges, modifications, variations and other uses and applications ofthe subject invention will, however, become apparent to those skilled inthe art after considering this specification and the accompanyingdrawing which discloses preferred embodiments thereof. All such changes,modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do notdepart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to becovered by the invention which is limited only by the claims whichfollow. ##SPC1##

What is claimed is: .[.1. A method of creating text using a computerhaving a memory, at least one display screen and means for selectingpositions on said screen, said method comprising the steps of: mechanismis a touch-sensitive display..]. .Iadd.12. A method of enabling text tobe created on a display screen using a computer having a memory, saiddisplay screen and means for selecting positions on said screen, saidmethod comprising the steps of:(A) storing in said memory a dictionaryof frequently used linguistic expressions, at least some of saidlinguistic expressions each comprising a plurality of letters which formwords of a given language; (B) sub-dividing said dictionary intonumerous predetermined screen presentations of predetermined wordsincluding:(i) a first of said screen presentations comprising the mostcommonly used words in the given language, without regard to the initialletters of these most commonly used words, (ii) a first plurality ofsaid screen presentations comprising other commonly used words of thegiven language, each screen presentation of said first pluralityconsisting of words all having the same initial letter, and the initialletters of the words in each of said screen presentations of the firstplurality being different from the initial letters of the words in theother screen presentations of the first plurality, and (iii) a secondplurality of said screen presentations comprising words of the givenlanguage, each screen presentation of said second plurality consistingof words all having a predetermined initial and second letter, andcombinations of initial and second letters of the words in each of saidscreen presentations of the second plurality being different fromcombinations of initial and second letters of the words in other screenpresentations of the second plurality; (C) displaying, on a firstsection of said screen, at least one line of text, as said text isprogressively created in response to a user's indication of respectiveselected positions; (D) continuously displaying, on a second section ofsaid screen, a plurality of individual letters of the alphabet of thegiven language arranged in a predetermined pattern; (E) displaying, on athird section of said screen various ones of said screen presentationsone at a time in response to a user's indications of various selectedpositions;(i) prior to the selection of the initial letter of each newword to be concatenated to the text, initially displaying, on said thirdsection of the screen, said first screen presentation comprising themost commonly used words of the given language, (F) in response to theuser's selection of a position in said third section of the screencorresponding to a selected one of the commonly used words in saidinitially displayed screen presentation, displaying said selected wordfollowing a space concatenated to the end of said line of text foradding said selected word to said text; (G) in response to the user'slack of selection of a position identified in step (F) in said thirdsection of the screen and in response to the user's selection of aposition in said second section of the screen corresponding to aselected initial letter,(i) displaying, on said third section of thescreen, one of the screen presentations of said first plurality, saidone displayed screen presentation consisting of words all having initialletters corresponding to said selected initial letter; (H) in responseto the user's selection of a position in said third section of thescreen corresponding to a selected one of the words in the screenpresentation being displayed in step (G) (i), displaying said selectedone word following a space concatenated to the end of said text foradding said selected one word to said text; (I) in response to theuser's lack of selection of a position identified in step (H) in saidthird section of the screen and in response to the user's selection of aposition in said second section of the screen corresponding to aselected second letter,(i) displaying, on said third section of thescreen, one of the screen presentations of said second plurality, saidone displayed screen presentation consisting of words all having initialand second letters corresponding to said initial letter selected in step(G) and said second letter selected in step (I); and (J) in response tothe user's selection of a position in said third section of the screencorresponding to a selected one of the words in the screen presentationbeing displaying in step (I) (i), displaying said selected one wordfollowing a space concatenated to the end of said text for adding saidselected one word to said text. .Iaddend. .Iadd.13. The method definedin claim 12, further comprising the steps of displaying following aspace concatenated to the end of said text the initial letter selectedin step (G) and the second letter selected in step (I) immediatelyfollowing the respective selections thereof. .Iaddend. .Iadd.14. Themethod defined in claim 12, wherein said individual letters aredisplayed on said second section of said screen arranged in the patternthey appear on a keyboard. .Iaddend. .Iadd.15. The method defined inclaim 14, wherein said individual letters are arranged on said screen inthe order they appear on a QWERTY keyboard. .Iaddend. .Iadd.16. Themethod defined in claim 1, wherein said means for selecting positions onsaid screen comprises a pointing mechanism for pointing at the screen..Iaddend. .Iadd.17. The method defined in claim 16, wherein saidpointing mechanism is a light pen. .Iaddend. .Iadd.18. The methoddefined in claim 16, wherein said pointing mechanism is a touchsensitive display. .Iaddend. .Iadd.19. The method defined in claim 12,wherein said first screen presentation of said dictionary includes anessentially fixed, standard dictionary of linguistic expressions whichare normally frequently used by at least a given segment of the public,and a variable, personal dictionary of linguistic expressions which arefrequently used by a frequent individual user, said method furthercomprising the steps of:(K) determining the frequency of use of at leastsome of said words of said given language that are added to said text;and (L) storing in said personal dictionary the words of said languagewhich are most frequently used as determined in step (K). .Iaddend..Iadd.20. The method defined in claim 12, further comprising the stepsof: (K) in response to the selection of a position of an existing wordin said text in said first section of said screen, displaying theexisting word, whose position was identified in said first section ofsaid screen, concatenated to the end of said text following a spacethereby adding said selected existing word to the text. .Iaddend..Iadd.21. The method defined in claim 12, including the further stepsof:including in said numerous screen presentations:(iv) a thirdplurality of screen presentations comprising words of the givenlanguage, each screen presentation of the third plurality consisting ofwords all having a predetermined initial, second and third letter, andcombinations of initial, second and third letters of the words in eachof said screen presentations of the third plurality being different fromcombinations of initial, second and third letters of the words in otherscreen presentations of the third plurality, (K) in response to theuser's lack of selection of a position identified in step (J) in saidthird section of the screen and in response to the user's selection of aposition in said second section of the screen corresponding to aselected third letter,(i) displaying, on said third section of thescreen, one of the screen presentations of said third plurality, saidone displayed screen presentation consisting of words all havinginitial, second and third letters corresponding to said initial letterselected in step (G), said second letter selected in step (I) and saidthird letter selected in step (K); and (L) in response to the user'sselection of a position in said third section of the screencorresponding to a selected one of the words in the screen presentationbeing displayed in steps (K) (i), displaying said selected one wordfollowing a space concatenated to the end of said text for adding saidselected word to said text. .Iaddend. .Iadd.22. The method defined inclaim 21, including the further step of:(M) in response to the user'slack of selection of a position identified in step (L) in said thirdsection of the screen and in response to the user's selection of aposition in said second section of the screen corresponding to aselected fourth letter, blanking out from said one screen presentationof said third plurality all words which do not contain said selectedinitial, second, third and fourth letters for facilitating the user'sseeing those remaining words of said one screen presentation of saidthird plurality which do contain said selected initial, second, thirdand fourth letters. .Iaddend. .Iadd.23. The method defined in claim 22,including the further steps of: (N) in response to the user's selectionof a position in said second section of the screen corresponding to aselected fifth letter, blanking out from said one screen presentation ofsaid third plurality all words which do not contain said selectedinitial, second, third, fourth and fifth letters for facilitating theuser's seeing those remaining words which do contain said selectedinitial, second, third, fourth and fifth letters, and (O) in the eventthat all words of said one screen presentation of said third pluralitybecome blanked out upon selection of said fifth letter, therebyindicating to the user a strong likelihood that the word has beenmisspelled. .Iaddend. .Iadd.24. The method defined in claim 12,including the further step of:(K) in response to the user's selection ofa position in said second section of the screen as identified in step(G) corresponding to a selected initial letter followed almostsimultaneously by selection of another position in said second sectionof the screen as identified in step (I) corresponding to a selectedsecond letter,(i) almost immediately displaying, on said third sectionof the screen, one of the screen presentations of said second plurality,said one displayed screen presentation consisting of words all havinginitial and second letters corresponding to said initial and secondletters almost simultaneously selected in step (K) above. .Iaddend..Iadd.25. The method defined in claim 12, including the step of:(K)including in each of said screen presentations of said first pluralitywords of said language which are commonly used by at least a givensegment of the public fluent in said language plus words of saidlanguage which are frequently used by a frequent individual user..Iaddend. .Iadd.26. A method enabling text of a predetermined languageto be composed on a display screen using a computer having a memory,said display screen and means for indicating to the computer selectedpositions on said screen, said method comprising the steps of: (A)displaying, on a first section of said screen, at least one line oftext, as said text is progressively composed in response to a user'sindication of respective selected positions on said screen; (B)continuously displaying, on a second section of said screen, the lettersof the alphabet of said language; (C) in response to the user'sindication of a selected position in said second section of the screencorresponding to a selected initial letter, displaying on a thirdsection of said screen numerous commonly used words of the language allbeginning with said selected initial letter; (D) in response to theuser's indication of a selected position in said third section of thescreen corresponding to one of said displayed words in step (C),concatenating said word following a space to the end of said text onsaid first section of the screen; (E) in response to the lack of theuser's indication of a selected position in said third section of thescreen in step (D) and the user's indication of a selected position insaid second section of the screen corresponding to a selected secondletter, displaying on said third section of said screen numerouscommonly used words of the language all beginning with said selectedinitial and second letters; and (F) in response to the user's indicationof a selected position in said third section of the screen correspondingto one of said displayed words in step (E), concatenating said wordfollowing a space to the end of said text on said first section of thescreen. .Iaddend. .Iadd.27. The method defined in claim 26, includingthe further steps of:(G) in response to the lack of the user'sindication of a selected position in said third section of the screen instep (E) and the user's indication of a selected position in said secondsection of the screen corresponding to a selected third letter,displaying on said third section of said screen numerous commonly usedwords of the language all beginning with said selected initial, secondand third letters; and (H) in response to the user's indication of aselected position in said third section of the screen corresponding toone of the displayed words in a step (G), concatenating said wordfollowing a space to the end of said text on said first section of thescreen. .Iaddend. .Iadd.28. The method defined in claim 27, includingthe further step of:(I) in response to the lack of the user's indicationof a selected position in said third section of the screen in step (G)and the user's indication of a selected position in said second sectionof the screen corresponding to a selected fourth letter, blanking outfrom said third section of the screen those words displayed in step (G)not beginning with said selected initial, second, third and fourthletters. .Iaddend. .Iadd.29. The method defined in claim 28, includingthe further step of: (J) in response to the user's indication of aselected position in said second section of the screen corresponding toa selected fifth letter, blanking out from said third section of thescreen those words remaining in step (I) not beginning with saidselected initial, second, third, fourth and fifth letters, and in theevent that all words become blanked out informing the user of the stronglikelihood that the user is misspelling a word. .Iaddend. .Iadd. Themethod defined in claim 27, including the further steps of:(I) inresponse to the lack of the user's indication of a selected position insaid third section of the screen in step (G) and the user's indicationof a selected position in said second section of the screencorresponding to a selected fourth letter and wherein said selectedinitial, second, third and fourth letters are contained in a significantnumber of commonly used words in said language, displaying on said thirdsection of said screen a number of words of the language all beginningwith said selected initial, second, third and fourth letters; and (J) inresponse to the user's indication of a selected position in said thirdsection of the screen corresponding to one of the displayed words instep (I), concatenating said word following a space to the end of saidtext on said first section of the screen. .Iaddend. .Iadd.31. The methoddefined in claim 30, including the further step of: (K) in response tothe lack of the user's indication of a selected position in said thirdsection of the screen in step (I) and the user's indication of aselected position in said second section of the screen corresponding toa selected fifth letter, blanking out from said third section of thescreen those words displayed in step (I) not beginning with saidselected initial, second, third, fourth and fifth letters, and in theevent that all words become blanked out informing the user of the stronglikelihood that the user is misspelling a word. .Iaddend.